The Jovian Sweep (Asteroid Scrabble Book 1)

by Martin Bourne

  Courage shook his head. "Doesn't matter. If this works, we won't need to be in battle formation." He leaned forward. "Signal Amethyst. More deceleration."

  The whine of Valliant’s tortured engines became a roar. Reports of minor damage began to filter in. Queries from the fleet became more frenzied. Cromarty and Prince became very busy. Courage was oblivious to the turmoil. He was concentrated solely on the hototank.

  Eventually it looked right again.

  "General order: cut deceleration. Rise five microspatials and then cut all engine power."

  His aides had never moved so fast. It took just four minutes for the fleet to fully respond.

  "Manoeuvre completed," reported Propulsion.

  "Sensor nets are operational again," reported Sensors.

  "All ships report they are now drifting in low orbit sir," said Prince. Then he noticed Cromarty staring at the Holotank.

  "What the..."

  “Look!”

  Ahead of them another fleet was slingshotting around Jupiter.

  Courage walked between them. “Pretty good eh? General signal to the fleet. Cut all electronic emissions. Silent running.”

  Chapter 35.

  Light Depot Ship Belofte, drone bays.

  The call to battle stations before had been flashing lights, blaring sirens and excited voices. This time all they got was a gently flashing light on Donal’s perscomp. He examined it carefully for a few seconds, and then nodded.

  “Alright. The Trigs are on their way. Is everyone clear about what is happening, and what their part is in it all?”

  There was a chorus of acknowledgments.

  “Ok then. Here we go. Everyone link into the real thing this time.”

  There was a collective series of whoops and a purposeful flurry of movement. Josie slipped on her contacts and secured them at her hands, her feet and her temple. There was the familiar buzz as the link was established with the drone, a fleeting few seconds of disorientation, and she was connected.

  It had been only a few weeks since she had last attached to a "Carousel", but so much had happened since then that it felt like years. The controls were as familiar as a childhood toy, with just the same surprising feeling of astonishment at their scale. How had working this ever been difficult? How had the link ever felt so constrained? She went over her pre-flight checks. The piloting station was actually rather better appointed than the "Epee’s" rudimentary propulsion consoles.

  She settled into the piloting controls, running her mind over the engines, the power feeds and the flurry of side thrusters. She touched over the sensor and electronic warfare systems lightly, just a simple check. They were actually more powerful than the "Epee's", although not as sophisticated. Two more presences dropped into the link. One was Donal, the other Roj Shirata, who she remembered as an impassive young man with very straight even hair and a slight facial twitch.

  Every linked presence was unique. Shirata’s lumpish incidence was there, somewhere in the background, but she was much more conscious of Donal. His aura was like a warm glow, mysterious, inviting - more than a little overwhelming in fact. With an effort she pulled herself together. She needed to concentrate! She was very conscious of an inner pressure to impress. It wasn’t the same as the feeling she had when doing her exams, even though the stakes were immeasurably higher. She was tense, nervous, even slightly afraid, but there was no stomach-churning terror.

  “Stand by Josie, hold on launch.” Donal’s interesting presence receded. Josie guessed he was contacting higher command. She went over the drone's systems yet again.

  Donal’s presence blazed again. “OK Josie, ease us out. Head to this position, low acceleration, and keep us tight to the other ‘Coverall’ drones for as long as possible.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  She fed power to the engines, and gently guided the "Carousel" out of the flight deck. The drone wobbled a little as it cleared the Depot ship. She inwardly winced, but Donal made no comment. She fed more power to the engines, and the drone soared into open space. A quick check of the sensors, and she noted the other "Carousels" clustered nearby. As she watched, they spread out a little. She plotted a course to conform.

  They were soon ahead of the fleet and further out from Jupiter. The giant planet hung as a backdrop to Belofte, Amethyst and the others, its gravity and natural electronic discharges thoroughly swamping their insignificant artificial emissions.

  “A bit more declination Jose,” said Donal. “Yes, that’s good. Where are the others?”

  She scrambled for the passive sensor net. “They’re almost all at their assigned positions. It looks like "Coverall 4" is already beginning to work up its countermeasures net.”

  “Let me see.” She felt his mental presence draw closer. Very much closer. His consciousness roamed over the sensor data she had produced. “Yes that’s very good." His mental voice was overwhelmingly warm. Thankfully, he moved away, or she didn’t know what might have happened.

  “OK everyone, let’s get this done.”

  Josie busied herself with the piloting instructions she had received on the brief. After setting the course there wasn’t much for her to do, to be honest. The main task was recalibrating the engines to a wide angle dispersal of propellants. It was enormously wasteful of fuel, especially for a chunky drone like a "Carousel", but it was essential to the plan. And it wasn’t as if they would need to accelerate for long. When she finished up she took a sensor sweep to stern. Belofte had already receded significantly. Josie could only pick her up because she knew where to look, and only identify the old Depot Ship because of the familiar minute variations in her engine emissions. She swung the sensor sweep around to short range and promptly gave a mental gasp.

  There were three more depot ships floating right next to her.

  It was impossible. They could not be there, but they were. Three "Gemstone" class Confederation Fleet Depot ships, serenely floating between five and fifteen millispatials from her. She double-checked. Extraordinary. The passive scanners still registered three Gemstone class Depot ships, which she positively knew were not there. The illusion was almost perfect. It was only when she looked very carefully she glimpsed minor fluctuations and distortions that revealed the true situation. The three were the other "Carousels" of "Coverall" squadron, camouflaged by their enhanced and modified countermeasures systems. It was uncanny. If she hadn’t known what to look for she doubted she would have identified them. At long range a Trig Sensor operator would surely be struggling to correctly identify them, even from a specialist scout drone.

  Or at least that was what the plan was counting on.

  Donal broke into her reverie. “Coverall leader calling. What does it look like someone?”

  Of course. If it had been done right, there would now be four Depot ships sailing along.

  “Coverall 2 - it looks beautiful leader. If I didn’t know better I’d try and dock with you.”

  “I’m gonna tell your Sophie you said that Coverall 2,” said someone, which received a series of mental snorts. The tension eased noticeably.

  “OK everyone, calm down.” Donal’s presence deliciously moved towards the sensors again, then swayed to the squadron comms channel. “Close it up a little Coverall 3.” There was a pause. “Yes that’s good. Well done. OK everyone. Keep it nice and tight, watch and correct any distortions. The order for the next phase will be coming through soon and we need to be ready to act on it smoothly.”

  Josie settled in and tried to keep busy. She saw the real Depot ships drop away and fall behind. Soon they were lost to her primitive sensors. She had to make constant corrections to the engine feeds, which helped to keep her mind off Donal's presence. After an eternity a signal came through.

  "Belofte control to Coverall, execute fire dragon manoeuvre three now."

  Donal switched in. “OK Coverall squadron, everyone go to max acceleration on three! And one, two…THREE!”

  Josie punched the engines, and the "Carousel" leap
t forward. The passive sensors showed the other three members of "Coverall" similarly leaping forward. If they had been seated in the drones the vast change of acceleration would have killed them instantly. Being virtually attached they still picked up indications of the powerful surge of acceleration. Pilots were particularly affected of course, but curiously it was those operating sensors and countermeasures that tended to experience the greatest disorientation. The heavy drain of maximum engine thrust redirected power from every other system, particularly the sensor and countermeasures nets.

  The burn continued, depleting the drone's fuel reserve rapidly. Shirata and Donal had their work cut out to maintain the profile of a Depot ship, rather than a humble training drone. Not that Josie didn’t have enough to do. Although the main responsibility for maintaining the illusion fell to the two on countermeasures, their task would be made much easier if she kept a firm grip on the engine emissions. It took a lot of concentration, and the time flew by.

  "Belofte control to Coverall, main phase is complete. Proceed to finish up."

  "Coverall Leader to Belofte control, understood." She felt Donal mentally shift. “Coverall Leader to Coverall squadron. Well done everyone. That’s it, we’ve done our jobs. On three, everyone bar pilots disconnect link.”

  “Our countermeasures will degrade rapidly when we disconnect,” warned Minkie.

  “Doesn’t matter,” answered Donal. “It’ll hold for a while. The Trigs are way too far off to get a really good look. They’ll never figure out what we really are until it’s too late.”

  There were a couple of whoops from the squadron net.

  “Ok everyone,” said Donal. “Ready to disconnect?” There was a chorus of “ayes’. “Alright, on three then. And one, two…THREE!”

  Shirata’s virtual presence disappeared with a small mental pop. Donal was still there. She was very aware he was still there. She busied herself with piloting. It wasn’t easy. There wasn’t much to do at the moment. No course corrections needed. A sensor sweep! Yes time for a sensor sweep. She busied herself.

  “Coverall Leader calling. Everyone out ok?”

  There was a smattering of positive replies. “OK pilots, give it a few more seconds, then set self-destruct, fifteen minute delay, and then disconnect.” There was another flurry of acknowledgements. Donal's presence shifted to the drone internal link. “Something the matter Josie?”

  “N…No sir.”

  “No need to be so formal on the internal link, Jose.”

  “No si...I mean Donal. It’s just that I expected you would de-link.”

  “A good commander is always the first to go in and the last to leave. Got to look after the troops.” A pause. “Do you find my presence objectionable?”

  “No! I mean, of course not…I…"

  "Good," his presence drew closer, pulsing, warm, overwhelming. Oh my.

  "Commander – Donal - I got something.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  A memory rose up, a sneering voice, contorted with contempt. “A drone? How could anyone think THAT would be a drone? You’re hopeless at this, aren’t you Tallion?”

  She shrugged it off, mentally juggled the sensors and propulsion systems. “Check out this reading, number seven on the list,” she managed.

  She felt Donal examining the sensor reading that she was trying to refine. Amazingly, she could even tell when he double-checked the contact through his much weaker gunnery repeater. Then she felt his concentration wavering somehow. How could she do that?

  There really was a link.

  “I’ve seen that signature before,” he announced at last. “That's a Trig ‘Ranger’ class scout drone! I know it is!”

  Josie felt a gentle mental touch as he moved the accumulated information their sensors had on the contact, which wasn’t very much, and checked it against the warbook.

  “Nothing conclusive according to the computer,” he said at last. “But I know that’s a Trig scout. I’m sure of it. It’s where a Trig scout would turn up, if it had been flank screening.” She felt him run through the tactical screens. “Yes, if they'd been there, when they turned to follow us, they would have popped up right about there. Slag it! Just our slagging luck!”

  “What’s going on?” It was Minkie. Of course, the pilots of the other drones were still linked in.

  “We have a problem,” said Donal. “We think there’s a Trig scout drone hovering nearby.”

  “What? Has it spotted us?”

  “For sure. We’re supposed to get spotted remember? Just not from something this close. The question is, has it figured out just exactly what we really are.” Donal turned his attention to Josie. “Is it closing on us?”

  Josie checked the sensors. “I think so. Not quickly, but steadily.”

  Josie felt Donal’s exasperation. “The closer it gets the more likely it is to discover our little deception.”

  “Where are they now?” asked one of the others.

  Josie sent the coordinates to the other drones.

  “That close already?” said Minkie. “Slag! If it is a 'Ranger' they won't take long to positively ID us!”

  “I know that,” snapped Donal.

  “Well, what are we going to do? If they get much closer the game will be up!"

  “I know that too. Le me think a minute.”

  She could almost feel his mind racing. "Are there any friendly drones able to intercept?"

  Josie checked. "Nothing close enough."

  “Shall I get the other crew members linked back in?” asked Minkie.

  “There won’t be time! Anyway, even if they do link back in we’ll be struggling to fool a 'Ranger' for any amount of time.” Josie could feel Donal’s mind racing. “OK, get them back in. We have to try. It might just be enough. If we’re lucky. Perhaps we can split up. It might confuse them for a while.”

  Confuse them? By varying locations? That was desperate, and it almost certainly wouldn’t work. But Donal was right. What choice did they have? And then it came to Josie, all at once, a beautiful complete answer. “Belofte. Power fluctuations,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  “Hold on. Don’t link anyone in yet. I’ve got an idea!”

  Quickly she activated the system engineer schematics, ran her mind along the conduits and wiring diagrams, checked the routes into the engines, examined the feed mixes, and semi-blocked certain key tubes. There was a sharp mental jolt as their acceleration promptly dropped, quickly followed by another, slightly smaller quake as it went back up again.

  “Josie? What are you doing?”

  “I’ve adjusted the fuel flow by switching off some of the feeds. It’s randomly varying our acceleration rate.”

  “What good is that going to do?” asked Minkie. “Varying acceleration? That just means they’ll close on you faster and realise you’re a decoy even sooner!”

  Their acceleration dropped suddenly again, then came back stronger.

  “They will eventually, but at first we’ll look like an old Depot ship whose engines have been strained by too much high acceleration.”

  “Surely they'll be able to spot that,” Donal pointed out, his mental voice brightening nevertheless.

  “I can make it look exactly like Belofte. I’ve worked on her engines enough.” Josie struggled to maintain the EW deception. “Every ship is different. Belofte has been around a long time. The Trigs are bound to have her unique engine and electronic quirks on file. I can duplicate that, I know I can.” She refined the engines again. "And as our acceleration is fluctuating, they will close on us faster than on the others, and if we time the variations correctly, right into laser cannon range.”

  Josie felt Donal’s mind positively blooming with hope. “Jose, that is sneaky, underhand and downright brilliant!”

  “Downright risky, if you want my opinion,” said Minkie. “The laser cannons on these tubs are tiny!”

  "Good enough against a mid-range scout drone like a 'Ranger'. They're pretty flimsy." />
  "But you’ll only get one chance! A single shot at long range, and you'll have to drop it first time. If it gets one squawk off, they’ll be on to us.”

  “I know. It's still our best chance."

  “The time lag is getting significant too…we are getting a long way from the Depot ship.”

  That was too much for Josie. “Slag it Minkie! What are you, the doom chorus?”

  She felt the woman bristle. “Listen rookie, you don’t get to…”

  "That's enough," interrupted Donal. "We don't have time for this. Forget about bringing anyone else in – this will be over before they get fully linked and we can’t afford the distraction. Everyone onto countermeasures."

  There was a series of groans. "Oh, I’m sorry you hotshot pilots might have to do some actual work," responded Donal. "I know it's not your speciality and it's a long time since you were at the academy but I'm sure you can improvise."

  There was more grumbling, but everyone got down to it. On her sensor net Josie saw the Coverall drones improve, with varying degrees of success, their illusions of being Depot ships. Meanwhile Coverall Leader fell further and further behind. The 'Ranger' got closer. A sudden powerful sensor pulse from it almost took her by surprise.

  "So, a definite Trig scout," said Donal. "Did it ID us?"

  "I don't think so, but they're suspicious, or they wouldn't have risked going to active."

  "OK ready on the acceleration drop." He shifted onto the squadron net. "Coverall Leader to all Coveralls. Set self-destruct and disconnect."

  "Coverall 2. Sure you don't want any help Leader?"

  “Coverall Leader. I'll be fine. Disconnect Minkie.”

  “I was just…”

  “Disconnect. That’s an order.”

  Minkie’s emotions flared through the link, quivered for an instant, and then her electronic representation disappeared.

  Josie could sense Donal’s concentration, his frustration, and the faint undertow of stress. The sensation was amazingly clear. She had never picked up anyone else’s emotions in a link so well. It was almost like being inside his head. It was, well, a pretty amazing link.